


The Adventures of Bucky and Cat

by kayliemalinza



Series: The Brooklyn Buchanans [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Cat, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-29 00:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7662889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayliemalinza/pseuds/kayliemalinza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of ficlets involving Bucky's childhood cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally [posted on Tumblr](http://kayliemalinza.tumblr.com/post/83932851441/okay-so-theyre-kids-its-the-middle-of-the).

okay so they’re kids, it’s the middle of the night: bucky’s in his bed and steve’s on the sofa cushions on the floor and there’s this noise that wakes bucky and he sits straight up in bed like _steve_

_steeeeeeeeve_

_there’s a **ghost**_

and steve’s not even all that awake yet but he just mumbles, _there’s no such thing as ghosts_ (they did a whole lesson on this in sunday school, bucky should really learn to listen.)

bucky shakes his head, scooches further under the covers. _it’s in the kitchen. i can hear it._

steve sighs.  _fine. i’ll tell it to go away._

_no steve don’t it will rip your soul out and turn you into a one-eyed rat_ (bucky’s heard some weird-ass stories from the neighborhood kids okay) (bucky is a neighborhood kid, he’s told some weird-ass stories to the kids younger than him, there is at least one little girl who will put a dash of salt in every glass of milk she drinks until she’s twenty-five to keep fairies from drowning. bucky barnes has a lot to answer for)

but steve’s already climbed off his makeshift bed and he’s stumbling for the door, wheezing a little bc sleeping on the floor always makes his asthma act up.

_steve, don’t_ , bucky says, which is what he always says when steve steps up for a fight he shouldn’t

_it’s alright, buck_ , steve says. _ghosts don’t care how big you are. you fight them with purity of spirit. it’s a whole different ballgame._ and he looks back, and grins, and bucky makes sure to remember his stupid face because this is the last time he’s gonna see his best friend alive. RIP Steve Rogers, I’ll take good care of your comic books.

so steve disappears, and bucky shakes in the bed, fingers clutching the blankets, ears perked for every weird creak and whistle–

then steve comes back, arms hooked around bucky’s big dirt-colored cat. _she was trying to get your mother’s nylons off the radiator_ , he says, and dumps the cat on bucky’s lap. _that’s what the noise was. told you there’s no such thing as ghosts._ and then he flops back down on the sofa cushions and goes right back to sleep.

_thanks, steve_ , bucky whispers. he stays awake for a long time, squeezing the cat and listening to steve snore and just trying to enjoy his last night on earth, because maybe he’s not gonna be attacked by a ghost but there’s sure gonna be a reckoning when mother discovers all the runs in her nylons.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally [posted on Tumblr](http://kayliemalinza.tumblr.com/post/89342140866/oh-my-god-but-buckys-cat-sitting-on-steves-chest).

oh my god but bucky’s cat sitting on steve’s chest while he’s sleeping and steve wakes up in a panic thinking he’s having an asthma attack but no it’s just the gosh darned–

#steve manages to hurl the cat across the room and the cat lands with and audible THUMP and then meows indignantly #bucky wakes up and is SO OFFENDED that steve threw his cat and then steve exPLAINS and the bucky feels awful and like #tries to explain to the cat #and steve is just like cripes i'm being coddled by a cat how much lower can i go #(he gets an awful stomach flu the next month and has to be carried by his mother to the bathroom to throw up #you can always go lower steve don't tempt fate) #so steve just gets this constant low-grade aggravation with the cat and starts playing rough with it #To Prove A Point #and bucky's like OnO WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO MY CAT bc steve's like pushing it and stuff #and steve's like this is a terrible cat she tried to eat my sandwich she won't leave me alone i have a right to shove this cat #so then bucky. you know. shoves STEVE. #then immediately he's like GOSH STEVE I'M SO SORRY ARE YOU OKA-- #and steve pops him on the nose #it's a square hit if not particularly powerful and bucky stares at him with his mouth over his nose and his eyes ~glimmering #eyebrows all distressed #and steve's immediately distraught and apologetic like gosh bucky i don't know what got into me i shouldn't have lost my temper like that #and bucky sniffles and steve apologizes again and they Talk About Their Feelings #and the cat crawls all over the both of them like warm bony terrain and when they're lying side by side on the floor #it manages to lay across both their chests causing respiratory distress to them both #but it's purring so loudly and steve still feels guilty for acting out his frustrations on an innocent cat #and bucky never exercises an ounce of discipline on the cat anyway #our young heroes learned an important lesson that day and the cat was victorious over all the end


	3. That Time Bucky’s Cat Got Terribly Sick and He Woke Up Mrs Rogers In the Middle of the Night to Provide Medical Attention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally [posted on Tumblr](http://kayliemalinza.tumblr.com/post/92572875716/kayliemalinza-that-time-buckys-cat-got).

Sarah peers into the apple box where Bucky put the cat for about twenty seconds before she starts giving orders. “Put some water on to boil, grab me some old towels, and pick out four or five names.”

“What—‘scuse me, Mrs. Rogers, names?”

“That cat’s not sick, Bucky. She’s giving birth.”

Bucky looks like he just licked a light socket but he patters off reasonably quick to get the water and the towels. Sharp lad.

“Three o’clock in the damn morning,” Sarah mutters.

“You’d never know it to look at ya,” says Julia, leaning against the bedroom doorway in her faded green bathrobe. “You look fresh as a daisy.”

Later, Sarah gives her the task of throwing out the placenta.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally [posted on Tumblr](http://kayliemalinza.tumblr.com/post/92576322296/kayliemalinza-kayliemalinza-that-time).

no, it’s terrible tho because this isn’t even his childhood cat, the dirt-colored one who likes to cause asthma attacks. that cat was a kitten when bucky was a baby, and was getting a little slow and hard of hearing when bucky’s stubble started coming in.

then mr barnes died on base in a training accident, and bucky was so preoccupied with becoming the man of house and being strong for his mother and trying not to lean on steve too much that he didn’t even cry about his dad. then six months later the cat coughed up blood on bucky’s pillow then crawled into the kitchen sink and died.  
  
steve found him in an alley, crouched in the corner and rattling the trashcans with his sobs.  
  
the new cat shows up a couple months after that, fat how bucky likes ‘em, short-hair calico with an orange splotch on its face like it just finished eating toast with marmalade.   
  
he tries to smuggle it into the apartment (he and his mother moved in with the rogers–it’s a little cramped but cozy, and exactly what they need right now) and both mothers are in the kitchen drinking coffee, silently watching him cross the tile with his jacket cradled in his arms like a baby.  
  
“hiya, mrs. rogers. mama.” bucky nods, smiles like he’s a good boy.  
  
they just keep staring. bucky coughs, shuffles his feet, slinks off to his room.  
  
julia takes another long sip of coffee and stares at sarah over the rim. she’s had a couple decades more practice with silent queries, and after a long minute sarah sighs.  
  
“as long as stevie’s asthma doesn’t start acting up,” she says. “and i better not see any fur on my work uniforms.”  
  
julia slits her eyes like a cat in sunlight and rubs her toes against sarah’s ankles under the table.


End file.
